Fuel scarcity in the state and other major cities has led to higher fares and longer waits for Lagos residents dependent on public transportation for work and business. The tricycles and buses crucial for their daily commutes are scarce, as they face difficulties obtaining fuel. Many filling stations have stopped selling fuel, and those that do are charging above the normal price range. On Monday morning, a Nairametrics observed at various bus stops and parks across Lagos State that many were crowded with people waiting for tricycles and buses for their commute. However, these vehicles were either unavailable or insufficient…
Author: Temitope N.
The United States Congress has made proposals to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to all 54 African countries and also extend it to 2041. According to the East African, Senators Chris Coons of Delaware and James Risch of Idaho introduced the bipartisan Agoa Renewal and Improvement Act of 2024, which would see Agoa cover 54 African countries. The extension is expected to integrate Agoa with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to promote and enhance intra Africa supply chain in the continent. AGOA was introduced in 2000 and it is set to expire next year. US Secretary…
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that it generated N498.07 billion in revenue for March 2024, amounting to an average hourly revenue of approximately N669.45 million and a daily average of N16.07 billion across its various commands nationwide. The announcement was made on Monday via the NCS’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, accompanied by an infographic that illustrated the revenue generated across its nationwide commands. According to the infographic, the Apapa Port Command in Lagos was the highest revenue earner among all of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) commands nationwide”, generating N169.93 billion in March 2024, which accounted for 34.12%…
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has authorized an increase in the minimum wage for workers in the state from N40,000 to N70,000. The announcement was made by the governor while speaking at the commissioning of the newly built ultra-modern Labour House secretariat complex for labour unions in the state, along Temboga Road, Ikpoba-Hill, Benin City on Monday, April 29, 2024. Governor Obaseki said the new minimum wage in the state will take effect from May 1, 2024. This is coming at a time when the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Federal Government and other…
Daniel Ek, the co-founder of Spotify Technology SA, has opted to sell off a portion of his shares in the audio-streaming giant after gross margin grew 27.6% in Q1, up 243 bps Year on Year. Since the start of 2024, five current members of Spotify’s executive team, along with the former CFO, Paul Vogel, have sold shares totaling $254.4 million. Notably, CEO Daniel Ek led the pack, selling $118.9 million in shares following the group’s Q2 results, preceded by a $59.9 million sale in February, Fortune first reported. Reports indicate that Ek has initiated the sale of 650,000 shares through…
The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has reported that it processed and categorized 274 films from Nigeria’s film industry in the first quarter of the year. Dr. Shaibu Husseini, the board’s Executive Director/CEO, revealed this information in a statement on Monday in Abuja. According to the NFVCB boss, the data was gathered by the board’s Department of Film Censorship and Classification and covers a variety of film genres, the News Agency of Nigeria stated. This report will be submitted to relevant federal agencies to contribute to the calculation of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product for Q1 2024. When compared…
In Canada, over one million foreign students are primarily restricted to low-wage, part-time jobs. This is due to youth unemployment figures in Canada currently hovering near 12%, according to the government’s statistical agency, with the overall unemployment rate reaching 6.1% in March. We learned that Canada’s population reached about 39 million, marking the fastest rate since 1957, primarily due to immigration. However, this rapid increase has contributed to housing cost pressures and strains on government-financed health care, leading to a tightening job market that impacts the country’s large cohort of international students. The country has witnessed long queues forming outside businesses…
The Government of Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) have established a joint working group to work on modalities for mining development in the country This decision was made during a meeting between the Nigerian delegation, led by Dr. Dele Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, and the U.S. delegation, led by Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President on Energy and Infrastructure. According to a statement by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, Alake emphasized that the meeting aimed to bolster collaboration with the U.S. U.S to assist Nigeria in security and technical assistance During the…
A review of the capital importation report of the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics reveals that foreign investment inflow to the manufacturing sector increased by 67.69% in 2023. For the year 2023, FDI inflow to the manufacturing sector stood at $1.59 billion representing an increase of $642.05 million from the $948.43 million recorded in 2022. FDI by quarter When analysed on a quarter-on-quarter basis for 2023, capital importation to the manufacturing sector was highest in the second quarter at $605.04 million while it was lowest in the first three months of the year at $256.12 million. Capital importation for the third and…
The Nigerian subsidiary of Olam Agri has declared a temporary halt in the purchase of maize and sorghum due to escalating prices nationwide. In a statement, the company cited supply chain disruptions and soaring prices as factors impacting the availability of these essential grains across the country. Olam Agri emphasized its ongoing collaboration with industry peers and government bodies to alleviate the strain on the food supply for Nigerians. It stated, “As a major buyer and processor of food staples, we share the concerns about high prices and supply chain disruptions affecting the availability of essential grains” “In response to…
Arc. Musa Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, has raised concerns about cement manufacturers using the fluctuating foreign exchange rates as a pretext to significantly increase cement prices, thereby adding to Nigeria’s economic challenges. This issue was brought to light during a meeting Dangiwa convened with key figures from the cement industry, including Dangote Industries Limited’s Group Chief Commercial Officer Rabiu Umar, Lafarge Cement PLC’s Commercial Director Gbenga Onimowo, and the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN)’s Secretary James Salako, along with other senior executives from the industry. The meeting took place at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday,…
The contribution of the manufacturing sector to Nigeria’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 dropped from 8.40%, as recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year, to 8.23%, according to the GDP report for Q4 published by the NBS. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the sector’s contribution to GDP dropped by 0.19%, from 8.42% to the current figure. The manufacturing sector’s Q4 2023 Real GDP growth stood at a 1.38% year-on-year increase, representing a slight decline from 2022 but an improvement from the previous quarter. Quarter-on-quarter growth stood at 9.54%. Nominal GDP The Manufacturing sector experienced a notable increase…
Global semiconductor industry; estimated to be worth USD700Billion with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3% is commonly referred to as “the brainbox of all modern technology and innovation”. The sector produces micro-chips and hardware appliances that control computing devices, smart appliances, transportation and health care equipment, data centers, satellites, energy, and manufacturing equipment as well as military artillery and security systems. The semi-conductor industry creates technology that will drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution through technological breakthroughs in automation, cloud computing, big data, medicine, artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), energy storage and biotechnology. Semiconductors are the essential…
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to work towards reducing the number of Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and develop a sustainable framework to guide credit intervention to the manufacturing sector. The group made the call through its President, Otunba Francis Meshioye while delivering a speech at the MAN Reporter of the Year award ceremony. According to him, the need to reduce the number of BDCs is premised upon the reduction of their excesses and ensuring the proper structure of their operations. Also, he called on the CBN to prioritize FX allocation…
Shuaibu Audu, the Minister of Steel Development, has stated that Nigeria imports steel valued at $4 billion dollars every year. Audu announced this on Thursday while on a familiarisation tour of the National Metallurgical Development Centre (NMDC) in Jos. He mentioned that 70% of Nigeria’s steel is imported and added that President Bola Tinubu is committed to reversing this trend. ”Right now we import about four billion dollars worth of steel, which is over 70 per cent worth of steel in Nigeria. ”Mr President wants us to reverse this trend; he wants to ensure that most of the steel consumed…
The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has reported a concerning trend within the industry, revealing that about 767 manufacturing companies shut down operations while 335 experienced distress in 2023. This development is attributed to various economic difficulties, including exchange rate volatility, rising inflation, and a general worsening of the investment climate. These adversities have taken a toll on the manufacturing sector, significantly impacting its performance and sustainability. MAN’s revelations came alongside its criticism of the Federal Government’s newly introduced Expatriate Employment Levy (EEL), which the association argues contradicts the objectives laid out in President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and…
New mining licenses will be issued by the federal government solely to companies that propose a strategy for local mineral processing, as part of the new guidelines being established by the Ministry of Solid Minerals. Segun Tomori, the spokesperson for the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, announced the move, indicating a departure from Nigeria’s long-standing practice of exporting raw materials, aligning with the trend among African nations to gain more value from their mineral resources. Tomori mentioned that the government aims to encourage investment by providing incentives such as tax breaks for importing mining machinery, facilitating the acquisition of…
The Federal Government has revoked 924 inactive mining licenses, alleging that miners have facilitated a black market for acquiring mining titles. The revoked licenses comprise 528 exploration licenses, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licenses, and 273 small-scale mining licenses, according to a statement by Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, on Wednesday. Alake stated that the measure was implemented to stop “license racketeering,” a practice where companies or individuals acquire titles of mineral-rich areas and then sell them to the highest bidders. The Minister also announced that these licenses are now open for new investors to apply on a…
In March 2024, the average fare for Okada transportation per drop in Nigeria saw a modest year-on-year increase of 2.15%, reaching N472.16, up from N462.21 recorded in March 2023. However, the fares in Lagos, Ondo, and Taraba states were significantly higher than the national average during the same month. Lagos led with N850 per journey, followed by Ondo at N725, and Taraba at N670, highlighting regional disparities in transportation costs. These are according to the latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Transport Fare Watch report for March 2024, as published on the website of the data agency. Imo and Yobe…
The Acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, has confirmed that the troubled Abuja Chinese supermarket, sealed for discriminating against Nigerians, had all its products priced in Chinese yuan instead of naira. Abdullahi made this disclosure in a recent interview with Channels TV in Abuja published on the agency’s YouTube channel on Sunday. Recall that the commission had sealed the Abuja-based Chinese supermarket located within the China General Chamber of Commerce following accusations of discriminatory practices against Nigerians. Reacting to the development, the CEO of FCCPC said one of the discoveries…